A while back we featured a small but well designed house in Houston Texas of all places, made out of mostly shipping containers. This version of a container house was different that most because it actually feels good. I don’t know what I mean by that other than a lot of container house are how do you say… hard, bare… build without design in mind. I mean the images of this place stand up to any well designed home and I am sure that is what the Dwell Magazine editors saw too and decided not only to do a story but to feature this special home on the cover (featured story on dwell.com).

Yes, the magazine issue came out back in 2009 but I just saw it. I know sad. But better let than never is what I say. So here it is, a little snippet of the dwell article, a few photos and yes a link back to our post On the Cordell Shipping Container House.

A cryptic club music pumping army of artist use shipping containers as a part of their building code DNA. I know, what? That is what I was thinking as I cruised the blog.platoon.org site. What I can gather from all the cryptic blog post and videos, is that this organization (Platoon), loves Shipping Containers, Military Clothing, Art and yes, having parties. To expand their parting capabilities they hooked up with Graft Lab Architects to design and build a new four story disco / art gallery out of their beloved shipping containers, in Seoul, Korea. The video above shows the building coming together and after the jump, a video of their original 3 container building. I love these guys. I think I may even start my own Platoon of G Container Heads.

What do you get when you combine the ever popular shipping containers with old airplane fuselages? A Mobile Dwelling Unit, of course. The brainchild of LOT-EK, this brilliant architectural design has been on the market since 2002, and is the model from which other module-based designs are now being based. Led by Ada Tolla and Guiseppe Lignano, LOT-EK’s mission is to blur any boundaries between art, architecture, information and entertainment. Their groundbreaking approach to design and architecture is redefining the way we as a populace interact with industry and technology.

But there is a glaring problem with this design. It’s just plain ugly. Which is too bad, because MDU is the same firm who designed the Puma City mobile store made from multiple containers and that one is pretty cool. Well, except for the use of the orange again. A colorist should really talk with these guys. They use orange in hazard area’s for a reason, its a bit disturbing.

CNN highlights the growing trend of using all those wasted shipping containers as building blocks for new homes. CNN producers talk with Architect Peter De Maria, a previous guest on G Living’s Room101. Peter specializes in Container based homes here in Southern California. He is even building a Container home just down the street from the G Living studios.

Architects are designing modern homes from the millions of excess shipping containers that are piling up at the port of LA due to the US trade deficit with China. By using the steel shipping containers as building material, homes can save 50% of construction costs, while reducing the waste and blight caused by trying to store them.

Our friend Architect Peter DeMaria is featured by Lexus for their reuse movement ad campaign. The Lexus slogan is: See how the reuse movement is shaping the world and how Lexus practices responsible manufacturing. This is a good way to spread the idea of re-using industrial materials in new projects, such as the shipping containers into cool new modern eco homes.

So, what to do with all those extra shipping containers flowing in from China? Well, if you work out the architecture firm MMW in Norway you use them a green building material. The firm seems to really specialize in re-using this waste product generated by the shipping industry. I know what your thinking, how is this a waste product? Well, you see, there is no value in shipping empty containers all the way back to China. So, basically these ultra tough steel containers are really nothing more that giant size cardboard boxes and we all know what we do with those.

So, using these industrial cardboard boxes, MMW created a new Gallery building for Alexandra Dyvi. She wanted a semi temporary gallery.

To make an open feelingMMW has let a huge amount of fresh crispy northern light through the building by placing circular windows opposite each others. These shapes bring on the history from way back where at this site many of the most beautiful ships from Oslo where built at this site. Also the traditional industry ladders/stairs gives an impression of linking it all together with the shipbuilding industry from last century. Huge safety glasses at the end of each container give wanted supply with water and weather, sun and sky. The start of it all came with 10 ordinary containers, insulated on the inside, and covered with sheets of plywood and sheetrock (gwb) all painted like a classical with cube.

Could you ever imagine being envious of people who live in Shipping Containers? Well, now you can, because the Cove Park project is just that good. A dreamy water side home complete with a grass roof.

Cove Park is a centre for established artists situated on the west coast of Scotland in 50 acres of spectacular countryside.

In 2002, Container City created three en-suite accommodation units (known as ‘cubes’) to act as artist retreats. In order to blend into the rural surroundings sliding glass doors were installed that lead out onto the decked balcony that extends over a lake with beautiful views of Loch Long.
Due to the success of the first three units, three more have been commissioned and are due for completion in June 2006.

Cove Park is situated on a 50-acre site overlooking Loch Long on the Rosneath peninsula. Located on the fringes of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, the peninsula is an area of outstanding natural beauty.

We are always on the look out for good container home designs and this isn’t one of them. Okay it is a student project, but come on, this is pretty getto compared to what other architects and designers have done with shipping containers. We are only posting it to contrast the good from the bad.

The project is by Chrissie Beavis, a student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Looks like she created the design way back in 2004, so maybe she has fine tuned her container designs by now. We couldn’t find any updates or new design by Chrissie, so maybe this was a one off for her.

Chrissie says: “The final product will be a home that is approx 250 sq.ft. It will be just as mobile as the standard shipping container (truck, train, ship). Any standard container can be turned into a home with this design. Thus it has the potential to possibly provide disaster relief housing while putting to use the surplus of containers in the world. It also has the potential to be used in many applications from an upscale guest house to migrant worker housing. The home can be extruded from the container in less than five minutes by one person, and has the option of being fully furnished (major appliances included).”

Another Shipping Container Concept Home. This one is by Zigloo a firm out of Canada. We have covered some of their designs in the past, including a really cool Floating Ocean City. This concept design is made from three shipping containers, to create a 800 sq. ft. home in the country side or an urban infill. The architect says he would like to deliver these home at around $150 per sq ft.

You can pick up your jaw off the ground now. Yes, that really is a shipping container turned in to a mighty Transformer. This transformers, trick is to go from a box to a Café in about 2 minutes flat.

Official Spill: Located in Montreal’s Old Port, Müvbox offers a variety of dishes featuring lobster from Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Created from an old shipping container powered by solar energy, this concept is a modern-day reinvention of the old-fashioned canteen which creates an experience that’s environmentally-friendly, ethical and affordable. Every night, Müvbox vanishes back into its cube, redeploying early the next morning in less than two minutes, at the touch of a button! movboxconcept.com

Now here’s an awesome idea that should be turned into a working product, but of course, it won’t be. The Canadians are just fooling with us. The All Terrain Cabin (ATC) built in the dimensions of a standard shipping container.

We thought people all over the world should have a chance to see what Canadians get up to when they turn their heads to design, technology and other imaginative persuits. The All Terrain Cabin (ATC) was dreamed up to send Canadian design on a world tour of International Design Forums, Consumer Home and Interior Design Shows, Environmental Conferences, and Special Events, as well as more casual visits to small towns, open spaces, and the downtown cores of major urban centres.

Container Heads around the world, start rejoicing. Yes, a new container house has been born and it’s a Texan. The developers (Numen) and family are calling it the Cordell House and here is what they have to say about their new baby.

Developer -The Cordell House is the result of a 2-year design discussion between the builders and the designers. It was conceived as an exercise in efficient building, with the most expensive aspects of the house – the structural elements and mechanical core – being partially prefabricated in a shop environment. The roof and infill floor areas are a panelized system that, in conjunction with the modular steel structure, allowed a very rapid dry-in time for the building, reducing on-site time and susceptibility to weather-related delays. This approach to construction also resulted in a home that can be substantially dismantled into component parts for reuse or recycling at the end of its useful life.